I sat down with podcaster Ryan Swift in December at Lindy Focus for an interview for The Track, which features in-depth interviews with pivotal persons in the swing dance community, and the fruits of that interview appear in Episode 14 of The Track!  I’m flattered and delighted to join the ranks of people I admire as a dancer and vocalist who have been featured on the podcast before me, including my DJ mentor Rob Moreland, Renaissance woman Naomi Uyama, the unparalleled Sylvia Sykes, and the inimitable Dawn Hampton.  We talk about my process in starting the Lindy Shopper blog, my first vintage clothing purchase, and more – take a listen, if you’re interested in hearing more from me or from one of the many other wonderful interviewees.  Ryan is an intuitive and fun interviewer and the topics always swing.

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

International swing dance instructor, prolific writer of the Swungover blog, and regularly the most dapper man in the room Bobby White has written a book titled “Practice Swing,” which launched today and is available for purchase online!  Practice Swing is accompanied by this sage description: “Since every great swing dancer has followed their own path to greatness, this book gives dancers as many choices as possible to find their own way, including in-depth explorations of skill-building, what makes exceptional dancers exceptional, and the variety of ways dance skills can be honed in studios, groups, or on the social dance floor.”

I’ve seen a lot of historical and biographical books about swing dancing and dancers, but I don’t recall many/any books on methods of study published during our modern swing era – since we are talking about dancing, it’s more obvious to use videos to learn steps, but what about going deeper than visual/physical movement and mechanics?  I imagine Bobby takes us on a journey that answers some of the deeper questions that can’t be covered in an instructional video and, as he always does with his Swungover writing and research, will give us lasting food for thought.

Bobby has written a great FAQ about the book on the Swungover blog that goes into much more details about “Practice Swing,” check it out and feel free to report back once you’ve had a chance to read and digest the book!